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| The Void (2016) - Better the second time... |
When posts start regularly trotting out comparisons to John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) - to name just one cinematic high water mark to which it was frequently compared - it's almost inevitable that the movie in question will underwhelm. By the end of the first act I was already sufficiently irritated by the poor lighting and unnecessarily bloated cast to just chalk up the glowing reviews to the horror fans' collective unfed hunger for a new instant classic. The Void had a fine pedigree, a commendable commitment to practical effects, and a wealth of instantly recognizable tips of the hat to horror greats past, but it seemed to me to pale in comparison to the classics it referenced well before it ever managed to find its own raison d'etre. It was a sincere and commendable effort hamstrung by its own lofty ambitions. But at least they were trying, right?
It turns out that a bit of distance from the fanfare and a bit more effort on the part of the viewer revealed a significantly different experience. While The Void still falls short of the transcendence to which it clearly aspires, my second viewing left me with a far greater appreciation for the admittedly long list of things it gets right. I still think the cast was unnecessarily bloated, and such an abundance of thinly drawn characters littered the narrative with subplots that went nowhere. I still think the clunky and abrupt introduction of the story's "Big Bad" was almost unforgivably ham-fisted. And I still think the lighting throughout was downright shameful given the obvious attention to detail manifest in The Void's sometimes brilliant practical effects. (I feel obliged to give an appreciative shout out here to the minion in the basement who had apparently spent years slamming his forehead into a blunt object in a desperate attempt to end his tortured existence. That was pure nightmare fuel.)
The Void's final third builds upon its nightmarish imagery with admirable aplomb, and I've never demanded total narrative coherence in the works of Argento and Fulci, so it's unfair to demand such of a newer flick that treads similar ground. The Void's ad hoc appropriation of Fulci's haunting final image from The Beyond (1981) still works like gangbusters in its new context, and the overall effect of its deployment here more than justifies the blatant cribbing.
I'm not too proud to admit when my initial assessment of a movie was compromised, and my second trip through The Void was a journey well worth taking. Like many of the greats it shamelessly emulates, The Void is an undeniably flawed effort that still manages to evolve into something greater than the sum of its stitched together parts. (Re-watch)
